Optics Outside the Quadrivium. Two Testimonies. Notes. PART I: WHY DID OPTICS NOT LEAD TO PERSPECTIVE IN MEDIEVAL. ISLAM? CHAPTER 2.
Optics and the Rise of Perspective. A Study in Network Knowledge Diffusion, Oxford, Bardwell Press, 2014. http://www.bardwell-press.co.uk/publications/Optics.htm Why did linear perspective rise in trecento–quattrocento central Italy rather than in any other cultural context? This book provides new insight into the question of the early Italian pioneership in perspective, building on the fact that many references to optics can be found in Renaissance treatises. The fact that most of the medieval optical manuscripts were written by Franciscan masters — the best known among them being Roger Bacon and John Pecham — suggests the need for a closer look at how the medieval universities (studia generalia) operated. An in-depth study of recruitment highlights the exceptional mobility of masters and lectors throughout Europe. However, through the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the closer a university was to central Italy, the more cosmopolitan it was. This is a result of the topology of the academic network, since cosmopolitanism depends on the studium’s closeness centrality. This is why, through the masters’ mobility, knowledge circulating in the network preferentially flowed into central Italy. About the Author: Dominique Raynaud is a sociologist and historian of science who previously trained as an architect. He is the author of many articles and books in the field, among which are L’Hypothèse d’Oxford. Essai sur les origines de la perspective (Paris, 1998), Sociologie des controverses scientifiques (Paris, 2003) and La Sociologie et sa vocation scientifique (Paris, 2006).
CONTENTS List of Tables and Illustrations Notations Acknowledgements INTRODUCTION 1. First Steps Towards Linear Perspective Assisi's Frescoes Practical and Theoretical Perspective 2. Frescoes' Commissioners The Minister General The Minister's Academic Training 3. Outline of this Book Notes CHAPTER 1
Perspective and its Optical Backing 1. Insignificant Factors Third-ranking Factors Second-ranking Factors 2. The Main Factor: Availability of Optics Classical, Arabic and Latin Optics Optics and the Translatio Studiorum 3. Academic vs. Private Interest in Optics Optics Outside the Quadrivium Two Testimonies Notes PART I: WHY DID OPTICS NOT LEAD TO PERSPECTIVE IN MEDIEVAL ISLAM? CHAPTER 2 The Axiological Foundations of Perspective 1. Arabic Theoretical Knowledge on Perspective The Perspective of the Circle Intersecting the Visual Pyramid The Route to the Vanishing Point The Rectilinear Propagation of Light 2. Arabic Disregard for Practical Perspective The Sociability Factor: Artisans and Scientists The Religious Factor: Presumed Aniconism The Axiological Factor: Overt Antirealism Conclusion Notes PART II: WHY DID PERSPECTIVE ARISE IN CENTRAL ITALY? CHAPTER 3 Academic Recruitment and Mobility 1. Optics Diffusion Actors The Distribution of Manuscripts A Critical Assessment Distributions Compared to Ecclesiastic Insitutions Localization of Manuscripts Displaced MSS Undisplaced MSS 2. Mobility and Recruitment of Lectors The Organization of Studia Generalia
Masters and Lectors Estimating Cosmopolitanism 3. Territorial Organization Studia, Custodies and Provinces Academic Recruitment Pools Notes CHAPTER 4 The Studia Generalia Network 1. A Small World Hypothesis Devising the Academic Network The Distinctive Properties of Social Networks Modelling the Academic Network 2. Centrality and Cosmopolitanism 1. Degree Centrality 2. Betweenness Centrality 3. Closeness Centrality 4. Constraint and Transitivity 5. The Law of Cosmopolitanism/Closeness 3. Special Communities and Vertices 1. Structural Equivalence 2. Network Hierarchical Clustering 3. Network Dynamic Partition 4. Reticular Roles Notes CHAPTER 5 Knowledge Diffusion Simulation 1. Diffusion and Social Networks On Random Modelling Network Simulation 2. University Network Specific Properties The Distribution of Optical Manuscripts Limits of the Present Analysis 3. General Properties of the University Network Six Properties Zelanti's Spatial Distribution Neo-Augustinism Spatial Distribution 4. Concluding Remarks on the Diffusion Process Basic Assumptions Adopters and Critical Mass Laws and Empirical Data
Explaining Diffusion Curve Irregularities Discretness of Social Networks Heterogeneity of Social Networks Anisotropy of Social Networks Notes APPENDIX 1 List of OFM University Lectors 1. Lectors at the Studium Oxoniense (1229-1345) 2. Lectors at the Studium Parisiense (1231-1320) 3. Lectors at the Studium Bononiense (1223-1369) Notes APPENDIX 2 List of OFM Universities APPENDIX 3 List of OFM Provinces 1. Provinciale Ordinis Fratrum Minorum Vetustissimus Secundum Codicem Vaticanum Nr. 1960 2. Translation. Register of the Franciscan Provinces From MS. Vatican No. 1960 Notes Bibliography Index of Names Subject Index
